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Clerk jailed for two years following bribery scandal at MMA
Court orders jail for ex-clerk at Maritime Authority for turning a blind eye to irregular certificates and for receiving kickbacks
5 March 2014, 12:00am
Staff Reporter
Staff Reporter
1 min read
Ivan Muscat, 37 of Zurrieq, who worked as a clerk at The Malta Maritime Authority was jailed for two years by Magistrate Audrey Demicoli after he was found guilty of partaking in a bribery scandal involving the his former manager, the head of the Small Ships Licensing section.
Muscat was found guilty of receiving kickbacks in return for issuing mariners’ licences to individuals when he knew that their academic certificates, normally issued by MCAST on completion of a Basic Seamanship course and examination, were falsified.
In 2007, discrepancies between the number of students taking the MCAST courses and the number of licenses issued were noticed and an internal audit began.
Since then more than 400 persons who had paid bribes in return for boatsmen licences were taken to court, with the majority of them being given suspended sentences.
John Farrugia, head of the Small Ships Section, from Hal Tarxien, who allegedly was the mastermind, is expected to be sentenced on 4 April.
Muscat said that Mr. Farrugia used to pay him around Lm50 (€115) a month to “close an eye” to irregularities on certificates but he never knew who the applicants were.
The court said that while Muscat should have acted immediately to report wrongdoing, he was unaware that Farrugia was part of a bigger organization involved in falsifying certificates.
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When are the police and the courts going to do their jobs and start arresting those that paid the bribe? They are just as guilty as the person who accepted the bribe. You cannot punish one and not the other. This sends the wrong message to those who do the bribing. Those that paid the bribe are just as guilty and should be charged as accessories to the crime. If person A gives a gun to person B to commit a murder, both persons are just as guilty. One cannot arrest person B who used the gun without arresting the person A, the one that gave him the gun in the first place. And justice for all? For instance who Okay-ed the utilities to be installed in all the illegal boathouses all over the island?
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Is it safe to assume that these " 400 persons who had paid bribes in return for boatsmen licences" also lose their illegally obtained license as well?
